boost til'bust,Jun 18 2004, 05:0 Wrote:service managers dont fix the cars, or go to mechanic school, or are trained to fix the cars. So unless this father inlaw of yours is a trained mechanic, what gives him the knowhow on this?
he may be trained, because I dont know him personally, but anyone with some mechanical experience and training knows that different situations call for different repairs. how about if overheats and causes the flywheel to warp? dont you think it should be checked out instead of assuming its good?
oh yea, by the way....another way to make a quick dollar? how do you figure? mechanics are flat rate, get paid per job, and they get the same amount of money whether they change it or not, and they are the people that quote the job, and tell the advisors what the car needs.
A good service team at a dealership always knows the ins and outs of the problems with the vehicles they deal with, and any reputable dealership should always hire service managers with both years of hands on work with vehicles and years of training in the indusrty and customer service. If the manager cannot fullt understand the issues under the hood they really aren't qualified to tell me what I need and do not need.
In regards to my father in law, he was a mechanic for 12 years, then a service manager for 17 years, and has now moved on from the automobile world to the world of industrial tools. Not only does he have the knowledge of the vehicle, but he worked for Ford for a number of those years (over 10). Due to the problems we were having with our focus, HE was the one who dealt with the service writer, mechanic, and manager regarding our little problem here. Not only does he know exactly what the problem was and how to fix it, he also knows how it should be dealt with. The dealership made several comments in the process of this issue that were unwarranted, and after my Father in-law spoke to their manager they were asking us how high we wanted them to jump. Not only is our concern legitimate, but they were very rude, accusatory, and trying to get us to fix things that really didn't need to be fixed. So yes, they were trying to make a buck because they have it in there to do $2000 woth of free body work due to "manufacturer defects". They are probably sick of fixing it for free!! As my father in law also said, the clutch is one of the hardest things to get warranty reimbursed for from the company (they are apparently hard to justify to the manufacturer) and that is why they rarely get fixed for free. However, that is not to say that there aren't many people who go away paying for something that should have been covered.
In regards to the clutch issue, their was no warping, scoring, or anything of the flywheel or pressure plate. Even more curious is the fact that it was "imperative" that we replace the pressure plate and machine the flywheel, but the disc was just fine. Now what properly trained mechanic would do part of a clutch and not the rest. Besides, if the pressure plate was so bad, how could the disk have been fine. Of course when you replace a clutch you do the whole thing. also not that there are only 18,000 K's on the car and we have only had it for 9 mos. Not to mention the fact that upon calling us to see if we would let them fix it, they out right they said that it needed to be fixed due to our "abuse". As my father in law said, regardless of how the plate was burnt if it was, a responsible and repuatable dealer who wants to keep its customers NEVER accuses or blames a customer for anything. Not only are they asking for legal action (Ford has even lost cases in the past for the exact behaviour we experienced), but they are asking their customers to go elsewhere.
We are not trying to be difficult or reactionary, but a series of events similar to this, and repeated disrespect from the service department at our dealer has sparked us to fight back. We are not going to send hate mail, or accuse them of things they have not doen. We are simply demanding the respect that a person who purchases a vehicle from a dealer deserves.
Of greatest concern to us, and my father in law, is the fact that hey created and developed this car for a a target market to which all of us belong. We are putting together a package for Ford Canada demanding to know why they developed and sold a vehicle to for a market that they are unwilling to respect and treat as equally as the buyer of their other vehicles. It is funny how last week Regina Focus owners were raising concerns about Bennett and now that we are asking for help/input they stop talking. We are simply tired of the disrespect that younger drivers, especially males who like to mod thier cars get due to the discrimination that they are racers, etc. In fact my F in L got the service manager to admit that he thought i was a racer and that I treat my car like s**t. In fact the opposite is true, and I do not like to be accused and treated like somethng I am not. It is the same with the cops, but with the dealerships we have a little more control.
We are going to send a formal and well written complaint outlining our concern for the fact that they sell these sporty cars to young guys who like to make them pretty, but that they will easily served the old farmer in the truck before helping us out. As well, warranty issues seem to be a much harder fight since they just assume that people like us drive like asses. This is uncalled for, and if they want to keep OUR business we demand the respect that we deserve having shelled out a lot of cash for our car. We know that something will be doen, because any complaints that come in to Ford Canada regarding a specific dealership get placed on the desks of those who can do something about it at the dealership itself. We are not trying to be pains in their asses, but merely asking them to treat us like they want us to buy our next car there. They may have excellent salepeople that treat us like gold, but if they can't continue the service for the life of our car why should we continue to go there.
SO, if you have any legitimate concerns about the way you have been treated let me know. No names will be named, but we do want to do something about it.
Tyler